In order to accomplish a project, such as a new product introduction, it is necessary to effectively plan, schedule, and monitor progress on many sub-elements. This is the Release Management process. As shown in FIG. 1, Release Management typically consists of four main stages:
Stage 1: Product marketing defines product features and develops requirements for the product features. The requirements may take the form of requirements documents.
Stage 2: Engineering enumerates tasks to implement the features, sets milestones for the tasks, and completes the tasks to implement the features.
Stage 3: Quality assurance (QA) verifies the engineering designs and the engineering implementations, and tests the features in the product as it is developed.
Stage 4: Other ancillary steps must be completed, for example, the technical publications group documents the features for the end user, the training group may have to develop training programs, there may be business clearances, such as business practices, training, legal, insurance, environmental, marketing, and executive approvals.
Understandably, the product release process involves a lot of information flowing within and between organizations to ensure a quality product is built on time to the right requirements and with proper documentation. Prior project management methods and paradigms having typically emphasized the linearity and linear dependence aspects of Release Management. FIG. 1 illustrates the apparent linearity of Release Management. Without an integrated system providing overall visibility to help track and communicate task level and sub-task level information, organizations must get by with disconnected systems such as makeshift spreadsheets, white boards, memos, and slips of paper. Often, information is lost or miscommunicated, resulting in a misallocation of resources; missing, undocumented, or inadequately tested features; late product shipments; and, ultimately, dissatisfied customers. And the problem only becomes worse as companies grow and product releases become more frequent and more feature-rich.
Organizations sometimes hire a Release Manager to coordinate the information flow, track release status, and guide important release-related decision making.